Chapter 337: Chapter 336: Great Progress in Strength
Running at full speed, frost fell around him, by the time Shi Xiaole returned to the resting area, he could barely suppress his internal power.
"Brother Shi!"
Lv Tao called out.
Xia Yunxi looked over immediately.
"Could you guard me, thank you," he asked.
From Xuanqi Realm to Spiritual-Passage Realm was a major breakthrough, unlike minor ones, no external interruption could be tolerated. For the short term, Shi Xiaole had to rely on all three.
"Brother Shi, rest assured,"
Lu Tao nodded but was puzzled and didn’t understand why Shi Xiaole needed a protector.
As Shi Xiaole sat down and began to mobilize his power, the three finaly understood. They all looked shocked and astonished.
"This guy, could he be preparing for a realm breakthrough?"
Wang Yuwei was astonished.
The posture of Shi Xiaole was clearly a rhythm to break through the Spiritual-Passage Realm. However, according to Xia Yunxi, wasn’t this guy only nineteen?
Breaking into the Spiritual-Passage Realm at the age of nineteen, it scares people just to think about it.
"Brother Shi is truly extraordinarily talented."
All Lv Tao could do was praise him, nothing more.
In his entire life, he had never seen such a genius, who is top-notch in all aspects. Among the younger generation in Redbud State, nobody could compare.
After a moment of calming his breath and when the effect of the cold dissipated, Shi Xiaole began to control his internal power, circulating it throughout his body over and over, using this to refine the essence of the Devil Path.
One thread.
Two threads.
...
After refining hundreds of threads of the Devil Path’s essence, Shi Xiaole’s internal power became so vigorous that it was almost bursting his meridians.
After consuming the small Vermilion fruit from the underground of the Ghost Fort, Shi Xiaole’s physical condition allowed him to quickly break into the pinnacle of the ninth level of the Xuanqi Realm without leaving any root harms.
However, Shi Xiaole’s improvement speed was too fast, within two to three years, he moved from Xuanqi Realm to the Spiritual-Passage Realm. Even the effect of the small Vermilion fruit couldn’t ensure that his body wouldn’t have problems.
Fortunately, the cold air in the Cold Pool also had the effect of strengthening the physique, which invisibly helped Shi Xiaole to consolidate his foundation, thereby reducing the difficulty of the breakthrough.
When his internal power reached its limit, Shi Xiaole took a deep breath, with a slight move of consciousness, he controlled his internal power and charged towards the Life Gate point on his waist.
The martial path is divided into three major realms, which are breaking three elixirs, shattering three barriers, and connecting three origins.
Hidden Qi, Qi Absorption, and Xuan Qi are the breaking of three elixirs, corresponding to the lower, middle, and upper elixirs of the human body, forming a small circulation.
Starting from the Spiritual-Passage Realm, martial artists will open the second small circulation in the human body.
The Life Gate point is the barrier to power, once broken, the internal power will greatly increase. Note that this increase refers not only to quantity but also to quality.
Under the same conditions, why can a Spiritual-Passage Realm expert suppress a Xuanqi Realm expert? The most important reason is that after breaking into the Spiritual-Passage Realm, the body’s internal power is transformed into Inborn Gang Qi, thus the quality is improved.
It’s just like turning iron into steel, the strength is completely different.
Boom, Boom, Boom...
With each impact on the Life Gate point, sweat began to appear on Shi Xiaole’s forehead. His face alternated between flushed and pale, and his breathing became erratic.
The Life Gate point represents power, but it’s fragile itself. Martial artists must fully control their power and timing. If the acupoint gets injured, there’s no more progress to be made for the rest of their life.
Xia Yunxi had experienced all these, so she understood better than anyone the dangers involved. She clenched her clothes in her slender hand, the veins on her face faintly visible.
Moonset and sunrise.
Unconsciously, a night passed.
Under continuous impact, the long-awaited crack finally appeared in the Life Gate point. Shi Xiaole became more careful and attacked with constant strength each time.
After countless attempts.
Suddenly.
The cracks on the acupoint wall expanded before finally bursting with a bang.
In the world, some sort of invisible force surged into Shi Xiaole’s body from all directions, forming a violent wind due to its speed and momentum.
"Retreat quickly."
Xia Yunxi gave an order.
Originally, she, along with Lv Tao and Wang Yuwei, formed a triangle around Shi Xiaole. Now they each retreated several dozen meters away before feeling a bit relieved.
Xia Yunxi was shocked beyond belief.
The impact of Shi Xiaole’s breakthrough was much greater than hers, indicating that the foundation and strength of the latter after the breakthrough would greatly exceed hers.
Shi Xiaole’s internal power grew visibly thicker as it passed through the Life Gate point. It seemed to have gone through a filtration process and became thinner, but any impurities were blocked outside the Life Gate point.
Over and over again, Shi Xiaole’s internal power kept increasing, becoming increasingly pure.
If the internal power of the Spiritual-Passage Realm is compared to pure water, then the internal power of the Xuanqi Realm is undoubtedly muddy water mixed with stains. The difference wasn’t noticeable before the breakthrough, but once it happened, one would be aware of the gap.
After hundreds of cycles, when there were no impurities, Shi Xiaole completely relaxed his mind, and the impurities in his internal power were expelled from his body through his pores, disappearing into the air.
"Is this the first level of the Spiritual-Passage Realm?"
Shi Xiaole raised his hand, feeling stronger than ever.
In his body, about 30% of his internal power was transformed into Inborn Gang Qi.
It’s known that the Spiritual-Passage Realm itself is a process of continuously transforming Inborn Gang Qi. Among the people in the Martial World, 99% of them, when they first step into the Spiritual-Passage Realm, are good if they can transform 10% of the Inborn Gang Qi.
Shi Xiaole speculated that it must be due to the fact that he had reached perfection in practicing a second-rate superior-level internal power technique while in the Xuanqi Realm, thus resulting in his current gradual progress from accumulation.
"Has he truly made a breakthrough?"
Wang Yuwei was somewhat stunned.
In the ninth layer of the Xuanqi Realm, Shi Xiaole, with the help of a lower-grade spiritual sword, could already combat with sixth-level masters of the Spiritual-Passage Realm. Now, could he possibly match up against seventh-level masters of the Spiritual-Passage Realm?
"Thank you all for your protection."
Shi Xiaole stood up and bowed towards Lv Tao and Wang Yuwei, deliberately leaving out Xia Yunxi.
Seeing this, Xia Yunxi was not angry but rather delighted.
"Brother Shi, how formidable is your strength now?"
Just like Wang Yuwei, Lv Tao was quite curious.
"Hard to say."
Shi Xiaole laughed.
He roughly knew the extent of his current powers, but to pinpoint the exact level was not quite clear. However, he believed that an opportunity to test his power was certainly imminent.
A few days later.
Tens of miles away, a striped serpent was exuding an icy aura as its body underwent its shedding process, causing the flowers, grass, and trees around it to be covered in a thick layer of frost.
At one moment, when the shedding process completed, the serpent’s body shrank by half and lost its stripes. Its scales shimmered with a silvery glow, giving the impression of indestructibility at a single glance.
Its eyes were still blood-red as ever, radiating a ruthless glint along with a palpable chill derived from its bloodline.
Whoosh!
The silver serpent shot out like lightning, moving at a speed that was more than twice as fast as before, nearly matching Shi Xiaole’s Wind God Leg. And this was accomplished just by flapping casually.
The serpent circled around the Cold Pool, following a certain scent, and shot off towards it. Soon, its eyes gleamed with satisfaction as it spotted Shi Xiaole and the others not too far away.
"Here it comes."
Shi Xiaole lifted his head.
"That is..."
Even though it had shrunk to half its original size, it was still nearly twenty meters long. The air within a three-meter radius of it solidified into tiny ice crystals due to its presence, giving Xia Yunxi and the others a sense of a deadly crisis through just a glance.
The snake opened its mouth and spewed a toxic liquid mixed with icy cold qi, instantly covering an area of a hundred feet wide with a layer of solid ice one foot thick. The cold qi emanated from it, which even made Xia Yunxi feel that her internal power was not flowing smoothly.
Without a doubt, she would not even be able to withstand its aura if she had to fight the serpent, let alone its attack.
"A master at the seventh, no, the eighth layer of Spiritual-Passage Realm would also not be a match for this snake."
Grabbing Shi Xiaole’s sleeves, Xia Yunxi said, "Hurry up and escape with your junior sister and brother!"
Shi Xiaole may have made a breakthrough, but honestly, the enhancement from Xuanqi Realm to Spiritual-Passage Realm might not be as significant as the increase from one small realm to another within the Spiritual-Passage Realm.
Moreover, Shi Xiaole’s Wind God Leg was renowned for its speed rather than its frontal attack power. Therefore, it would be best to escape.
Lv Tao and Wang Yuwei were already scared out of their wits. Especially when the eyes of the silver snake turned towards them, they could clearly feel a fatal strike waiting for them if they made the slightest move!
Why on earth would such an abnormal creature appear on this deserted island?!
"Don’t be afraid, it can’t hurt you."
Shi Xiaole said with a faint smile and took a step forward. Among the four of them, only he managed to remain calm.
This calmness clearly enraged the evolved silver snake, its eyes flashed with murderous intent, and its body shot out like a beam of light, faster even than the Wind God Leg.
Whizz!
The silver snake had just leapt halfway when it was immediately sent flying backwards at an even higher speed, leaving a long scratch on the ground. Shi Xiaole stood several dozen meters away, as elegant as jade.
"What just happened?!"
Lv Tao rubbed his eyes. He didn’t catch what had happened. He only knew that the silver snake seemed to have charged at them and then landed on the ground. When did Shi Xiaole make his move?
The silver snake straightened up from the ground, and its shrill cry was mixed with a volley towards Shi Xiaole, opening its mouth to spit out a cloud of dense, white poisonous fog. Before the breakthrough, even two Shi Xiaole wouldn’t be enough to withstand the attack.
However, unlike the others, Shi Xiaole’s foundation was extraordinary. His combat power, enhanced by 30 percent Inborn Gang Qi, improved at an astonishing speed, far beyond Xia Yunxi’s imagination. The level of his strength was at least twice as strong as before, if not more.
With the execution of the first technique of Wind God Leg, Capturing the Wind and Seizing the Shadow, Shi Xiaole spun in mid-air, generating a tornado-like torrent of green Gang Qi. Even the poisonous fog spat by the silver snake was swept up, turning back against it.
The fifth technique of Wind God Leg, Wind Rolling Building Remains.
Bang!
The silver snake was sent flying once again, offering no resistance at all.
"Let’s test my sword technique on you."
Drawing the Redfire Sword from his waist, Shi Xiaole swung with one hand, infusing the entire 30 percent Inborn Gang Qi, and thrust it forward.
The destructive Sword Qi was so real that it seemed tangible, like a rolling black and red smoke, engulfing the void, causing everything in the vicinity to fall into a deathly silence.
Whizz!
The silver snake screamed in agony. Its tough silver scales scattered in large patches, revealing a mess of blood and flesh underneath. Threads of Sword Qi, sharp as spikes, drilled back and forth, destroying the body of the silver snake mercilessly.
"This..."
Wang Yuwei had been prepared to escape even at the cost of her life, but she never expected the situation would take such an unexpected turn. The scene before her made her want to exclaim how shockingly powerful Shi Xiaole was.
"Brother Shi, you’ve truly opened my eyes,"
Lv Tao finally let out a sigh of relief, his eyes shining brightly.
Everyone had their chance. Perhaps getting to know Shi Xiaole this time was one of his best opportunities.
